M99C Special Application Scoped Rifle
The M99C Special Application Scoped Rifle (SASR), nicknamed the Stanchion, is an anti-material weapon used by the United Nations Space Command Defense Force in the 2500s. The C variant was a major improvement to the original design, and was especially an improvement to the failed M99B variant. It was mainly used by UNSC Military Intelligence Division sniper teams and Explosive Ordnance Disposal units. Overview After the success of the M99 in the late 2400s and the early 2500s, the UNSC scrapped the weapon due to its high cost; however, the concept of a Gauss rifle wasn't scrapped. It reappeared as the M99B SASR, made by Misriah Armoy in the late 2540s, and was mass produced. It was a flop, having numerous performance issues, especially in the areas of weight, power, ammunition capacity, and durability. Due to this failure, the UNSC Military Intelligence Division commissioned HRV Armament Company to create a wholly new rifle. The M99C SASR was originally produced as an anti-material weapon, used against hardened targets such as tanks, aircraft, and heavy machinery. Despite these facts, the Military Intelligence Division saw the rifle’s worth as an anti-personnel weapon – the 5.4 millimeter round would literally tear any organic life-form apart, giving it a one-hundred percent kill probability. The M99C uses an asynchronous linear induction motor to operate. The principle behind this is simple; power is generated in the rotating device, and the device is rotated by electromagnetic induction. Due to this, the weapon must be linked to an external power source, including generators or a vehicle, such as an AV-14 Hornet. The saving grace in this apparent liability is that the generators are now man-portable, having the ability to fit inside of a soldier’s rucksack. The true beauty of the weapon is in the fact that instead of working from a simple firing-pin-propellant mechanism, it uses a series of electromagnets to fire a magnetic projectile. In this system, the power from the linear induction motor is sent to a series of coils, spread along the length of the barrel. This turns the coils into powerful electromagnets. The sequential firing of these coils accelerates the round to high speeds, and the round continues out the barrel due to inertia. Hyperion Precision Targeting System The Hyperion Precision Targeting System was a sophisticated Fire Control System (FCS) for the M99C Special Application Scoped Rifle, developed by Ohana Technologies, as the successor to the ATLAS+ Targeting System in use with the earlier M99 SASR. Using a wireless data link, the Hyperion PTS connects to the Heads Up Display (HUD) of the operator, relaying telemetry, trajectory, battery information, and magazine capacity, all vital information to a UNSC Sniper. It uses a rather complex system of electronics, including a computerized optical sight and a portable computer (or any other electronic equipment capable of handling the information), to perform the calculations and to provide optical enhancement in day, night, or cloudy situations. Ammunition The 5.4mm Tungsten Carbide Penetrating Round is the "baby brother" of the MAC slug, and the smallest round made by the UNSC for use in a magnetic accelerator system. Due to the high velocity that it is fired at (fifteen thousand meters per second), the round has the uncanny ability to decapitate any organic target that it strikes, even after punching through two floors of a skyscraper.Halo: Contact Harvest Prologue It also has the sometimes unwelcome burden of over-penetration, as after it hits it target, it will continue on, sometimes killing innocent bystanders. References